Cost of Walker's Medicaid plan increases

The cost of Gov. Scott Walker's plan to reject federally funded Medicaid expansion and instead tighten income eligibility for the program has gone up.

A new estimate from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau says the cost of Walker's medical assistance proposal is $73.5 million more than when he released it in February.

Of that, $52 million is directly related to the changes Walker is proposing.

The total additional funding for the program is now estimated to be $734 million, up from $664 million.

Democratic Rep. Jon Richards says the higher estimates "should scream to the Legislature that it's time to reverse Gov. Walker's position and take the federal money so we can save even more money and cover more people."